The first Denise B. Evans Fellowships in Oceanography have been awarded to Yoshimi Rii and Alice Colman. Rii received the two-year award and Alice Colman received the one-year award.

“This fellowship money will give me the freedom to pursue research ideas that may not have been possible if my time and project were tied to a funded project,” said Rii.

“This award gives me the freedom to pursue more and different research to that which was funded by the grant that originally brought me here. Having an additional year of funding has allowed us to develop a project using the ion microprobe at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,” said Colman.

“This gift from the Estate of Denise B. Evans is a wonderful opportunity for all of our students conducting ocean research,” said Peter Mouginis-Mark, director of the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. “The awards will enable them to explore their full potential and research interests, knowing that they have the financial independence to take them where the science leads.”

“Ms. Evans’ generous gift gives us additional resources to take timely advantage of opportunities that arise,” said Michele Carbone, director of the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center. “Philanthropic funds allow us to move forward quickly in our efforts to build a world-class cancer research program that will benefit Hawaiʻi and the greater community.”